Ammunition positioning device for guns



Aug. 5, 1947. v. c. BOWSER AMMUNITION POSITIONING DEVICE FOR GUNS Filed lay 31, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR VIRG/L 0. M55

ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1947.

Filed lay 31, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 \J o wn i 2Q v n u u an x w R mu 6 l MG u E 90 INVENTOR W36. 6. BWSER b GR ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 5, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AM'lWUNITION POSITIONING DEVICE FOR GUNS 13 Claims.

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) This invention relates to devices for positioning articles in feedways, and more particularly to devices for positioning ammunition in the feedway of a gun.

One object of this invention is to provide a novel device for correctly positioning objects being fed into a feedway where the exact positioning of the objects in the feedway is essential to the functioning of the feed mechanism associated with the feedway.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for assuring the correct positioning of ammunition being fed into the feedway of a machine gun. The invention has particular reference and application to 40 mm. machine guns of the Bofors type in which ammunition is po sitioned by hand between upwardly extending guides where it is engaged by feed pawls for positive movement into the breech mechanism of the gun. Prior to the present invention, the loading of ammunition into the feed guides or feedway has been a very exactin task requiring an adeptness which could be acquired only through long practice during which a considerable wastage of ammunition and man hours takes place. If the ammunition being fed into the feedway is not positioned correctly, feedway jams occur which require considerable timeto clear, and which might well be fatal if they occur during action with the enemy. The present invention overcomes these difficulties by providing a simple and positive-acting positioning means which assures that the ammunition is correctly positioned before permitting the ammunition to move into the feedway of the gun.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ammunition positioning device which is simple in operation, light in weight, easily constructed, and which requires very little personnel training for its use.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and 3, the structure appearing as though viewed from the upper right corner of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an end elevational view of the device showing the position of the depressed pivoted arms in chain lines; and,

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are cross sectional views taken on lines -I, S8, and 9-43, respectively, of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a pair of the positioning devices used in conjunction with a twin machine gun mount using Bofors type machine guns denoted in general by the numeral 20 and having breech mechanisms 2| above which are positioned ammunition feedways 22. Each feedway comprises a front guide 23, a rear guide 24, and left and right lateral frames 25. The lateral frames 25 contain a series of fixed stop paWls 26 and a series of movable feed pawls 2?, the feed pawls being reciprocated within the frames by the breech mechanism of the gun to move the ammunition downwardly in the feedway until the ammunition comes under the control of the breech mechanism of the gun. The fixed stop pawls 2B serve to retain the rounds of ammunition against upward movement during reciprocation of the feed pawls 21, The front and rear guides 23 and 24 contain inwardly facing grooves 28 in which the noses and bases of the rounds of ammunition ride.

The rounds 29 are generally mounted in clips of four held together by a clip 35, each round being positioned at a slight angle to the adjacent round causing the noses and the bases of the rounds in a clip to lie in arcs of circles. In

order to accommodate the rounds thus positioned feedway by'dropping a clip of four rounds downwardly into the feedway so that the lowermost round is engaged by the feed pawls 27 which move the ammunition downwardly to the breech mechanismrof the gun. If the gun is empty, the first clip of cartridges must be pushed downwardly into the feedway to position the first round in the breech mechanismof the gun. The clips are automatically removed from the rounds by means (not shown) in the rear guide and are ejected through a clip chute (not shown) Due to the fact that this type of gun is a double purpose gun, being equally useful against aircraft and against surface targets, the wide range of elevations through which the gun is used causes 3 the position of the feedway to assume a great variety of angles, thus making it difiicult for the loader of the gun to correctly position the rounds in the feedway, especially since the gun may be moving during the loading process. This difficulty is increased by rapidly operating modern gun elevating mechanisms which are necessary in order for the gun to be useful against rapidly moving aircraft. If the rounds are not correctly positioned in the feedway, they become jammed requiring considerable time and effort to remove them, and putting the gun temporarily out of action.

The mechanism which I have devised to overcome the difliculties involved in positioning the ammunition in the feedway of this type of guncomprises briefly a pair of arms mounted adjacent the entrance to the feedway and so interlocked that they can move out of the way to permit the passage of ammunition into the feedway only when a round of ammunitionispositioned on both of said arms so as to depress said arms through a slight arc and disengage the interlocking means. This assures that the ammunition is correctly positioned with respect tothe feedway'beforeit canmoveinto the the ieedway as the arms define the desiredattitude of rounds entering thez.feed way.

In the drawing. the new devicecomprises the supporting; member or housing 3-lihaving'a downwardly extending mounting portion; 32 which is adaptedto be secured to the inner lateralirame- 25 of the ammunition feedway by anysuitabl'e means such asby bolts extending throughholes 33; A pair of screws 4|. are-provided in the. sup? port, for securing the support. against: motion relative to the lateral. frame to" which it: attached as shown in Fig. 2. On the upperxside; or the. housing 3i are'located-a pair of guide supports; 34 for pivotally supporting one. or more ammunition guides 35 having projections 36 toengage: indentations 31.- in" the.,mountingl Each. guide is resiliently urged into contact. with:themounting so that: the guide 35 tends toremain the position-in which it is held. theengage'a mentiof: the projections 36,. and the indentations 31; The. guide 35: may be moved toqaniinoperative horizontal position by:- exerting pressure thereon to cause the projections. airto move: out. of the indentations 3:1 by thgcammmgaction of the. sloping surfaces: thereof...

Thehousing, is also provided with a downwardly extending hole 38 and. apin ail connected to the housing; by a chain, 4:0. for a purpose which will be: discussed presently; Upwardly extending arms 64 are formed integral. with. the. housing 31 for a purpose whichwiilbe; discussed presently.

A shaft 42 having aoentral' diametrical' hole; 42a is journal'ed in the housing 3t and issurrounded in part: by a spring; 43-attachedrtoa collar 44 keyed to the shaft.. The spring isatztaehed to the housing at.- its other end so-as: to urge the shaft? in a counter-clockwise. direction as viewed in Figs. '7 through. 9 Rotatably mounted on-eaehend-'of shaft 42. are armskdwhich coopcrate. with mechanisms to. be described presently which. prevent movement-of, either of thearms 45- out. of the path or the ammunition. independr ently of. the other arm. As the. mechanisms on each end of shaft 4i!v are substantialduplicates with only minor exceptions which willqbe brought out inthe. followingdesc-ription, ..the assembly" cooperating with the arm? mounted onthe. right.- end of the shaft. as shown. in andshown- 4 in the exploded view (Fig. 5) will be described in detail.

A collar 46 is keyed to the shaft 42 adjacent the end of the housing 3| and is provided on its inner end with an arcuate flange segment 4'! having endsurfaces 48 and 49 which cooperate with shoulders 59 and 5| respectively on the end of housing 3|. As shown in Fig. 5, the shoulders and 5! are positioned approximately 180 degrees apart while the faces 46 and 49 of flange segment 41 subtend a smaller are so as to permit limited motion of collar 46 and consequently of shaft 42relative to the housing 3|. The collar 46 also carries an integral rearwardly extending latch" arm 52 terminating in a shoulder 53. The outerend of the collar 46 is partially cut away to form shoulders 54 and 55 which serve a purpose to'be explainedpresently. Ammunition positioning armis loosely mounted on the shaft adjacent the collar 46 and has shoulders 56 and 51 which-areso positioned with respect to the shoulders- Stand with which they cooperate that k a slight relative rotational. movement betweenthe arm 45 and the collar 46 is permitted as. shown in 9; The arm-.45 also has .an integral rearwardly extending projection 58 whichis provided withian upper cam surface 59... A collar 60 is fastenedtothe end ofthe shaft 42 by means of a pin it which extends through; a hole 62. in the collar and through a hole (not shown) inthe end of-the shaft; This" collar serves thepurpose of maintainingthe other elements in-place on the-- shait and also engages one end of a coiled spring fii'whose. other end is attached to the arm 45, andewhich'urges arm 45 upwardly to engage the shoulder 56 with shoulder 54 on the collar-46.

The. upwardly-extending arm- 64.: integral with the. housing 31' is. provided. with. a pair of holes 6'5and66. Bolt 51- extends through hole; to engage nut .68. and serves the. purpose: of pivotally supporting a latch keeper 6-9 which urged downwardly by a. spring 16- having one of its endspositioned in hole 66 and the. other end; attached to the latch keeper 69 by insertion in a. holefi-Sa (Fig.3 3) insaid latch keeper; A pin 11 mounted oxrthe latch: keeper 69 limits the. rotation of. the keeper by engagement with overhanging extension 12' ot-the arm 64 and-with the rear edge 7310f: the arm. 64. The keeper carries a cam member: M for cooperationiwith the cam surface 59 of. arm. 45. for a purpose which will be explained presently; The keeper alsoehas. a notch. 15% adapted to cooperate with shoulder 53 of latch 52;.

The mechanisms mounted. onthe right end otshaft: 42 as. viewed in Figs. 3: and 4= are .rnirror duplicatesv of the mechanisms mounted on the left end of: the shaftwith the exception that: the shoulders: 48 49,v 5.0v and 51.. are omitte'don' theleft end inasmuch as the aforementioned shouldersorrtherightaencli are adequate to limit the extent; of rotation of theashaft flz. With the ex-- ception of the. functions: performed by' these shoulders, the operation of theparts on both-ends of: the: device is the same, as will nowsbe ex plained.

When; the parts of the device are in. their normal positions, the. arms: 45 extend into: the feed-- way 22 of the gun so that the rounds must pass them; irt'ord'ertto. move into the roadway; The arms 45 are in the position shown Fig. 9 and loan; movev downwardly only the slight distance between shoulders 55 and shoulders 5fi- When around ofi ammunition-is placedon only one of the arms 45,. the arm ispermittedto move only a short distance downwardly during which movement the cam surface 59 on the projection 58 carried by the arm engages the cam surface 14 on the corresponding latch keeper 69 moves the keeper rearwardly a sufficient distance to disengage the keeper from the shoulder 53 on latch 52. However, neither arm .5 when depressed alone can move downwardly a sufdcient distance to permit passage of the ammunition due to the fact that after i s short preliminary movement, the shoulder 5? on the contacts shoulder 55 on the adjacent collar 55 which is unable to rotate due to the fact that it is keyed to the shaft 42. Shaft 42 is keyed to the colla 45 on the other end of the shaft which is prevented from rotating by the contact of its latch shoulder 53 with the corresponding latch keeper EEJ In order for either arm 55 to be m ved downwardly far enough to permit the ammunition to move into the feedway, it is 116885521137 to depress both the arms 45 through their preliminary movements to move both the keepers E9 rearwardly and disengage them from the shoulders 53 on latches 52. When both of the arms 45 have moved through their preliminary -aovements and the latch keepers at both ends of the device are disengaged, shaft 42 is free to rotate. The pressure exerted on arms 45 by the round is transmitted from shoulder 5? to shoulder 55 on the collar 46 at both ends of the device, thus rotating the shaft 42 as the arms 45 move downwardly until the shoulder 49 on the right hand collar 45 engages the shoulder 51 the housing at which time rotation of is halted. In this way the shoulder 5 l limits the rotation of the shaft and the arms 45.

On release of the pressure on the arms 45, spring 43 which is attached to shaft 32 urges the shaft 42 in a counter clockwise di ection as viewed in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, to rotate collar 46 back to its original position in which shoulder 48 engages shoulder 56 on the housing and the shoulder 53 engages notch 15 on the latch member. Each arm 45 is urged back to its original position rela" tive to the adjacent collar by spring 83 attached to it and the latch keepers reengage latches under the influence of springs "3.

If it is desired to lock the 45 in the dow ward inoperative position shown in the ch lines of Fig. 6 in order to unload the feedway or for other reasons, the two arms are pushed down.- wardly to the inoperative position the pin 32 is inserted through hole 38 in the support and through hole 42a in the shaft, thus locking the shaft in this position.

From the above description, it is apparent that the arms 45 cannot be moved out of the way of the ammunition until both are moved through their preliminary movements to disengage both the latch keepers 58. As long as either one of the latch keepers is engaged with the shoulder 53 of the corresponding collar 46, the shaft 42 not rotate and the arms 45 are maintained in their blocking positions to prevent the movement of ammunition into the feedway of the gun. This assures that ammunition cannot move into the feedway until the first round of a fresh clip of ammunition engages both arms 45 and moves them through their preliminary downward movement. Once the two arms have been moved downwardly by the lowermost round in a clip the succeeding rounds in the clip prevent sufhcient upward movement of the arms to reengage the latches.

Auxiliary sloping extensions 80 and 8! may be 6 attached to the front and rear guides 23, 24, if desired, to assist positioning the ammunition.

As shown in Fig. 1, the new positioning device may be used on either a right or left hand gun, 6 the two arms being identical. It is, however, preferable to use the forwardmost guide support 34 to support a guide so that if one of the devices is shifted from a gun of the opposite hand, i is necessary to change the position of guide 35 or if both guid s are mounted on the device, the forwardmcst guide is raised and the rearmost guide 35 is moved to a horizontal inoperative position as explained above.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiment of the invention is merely a preferred embodiment t-ereof and tiat various changes may be made the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spi it and scope of the invention.

While the invention is specifically described use with a gun, it is obvious t- W the inventi may be used to advantage a wide variet of r in it is necessary to accurately posithe Government of States of America for governmental pnrno es without the payment of any royalti positioning an object with re way which it is to be fed, compositioning elements for adjacent a feedwa and proiectable in blocking positions with respect to said object, elements also being movable out of sue... blocking positions to permit passage of said object. interlocking operatively interconnecting said elements re" i ting inde pendent movement the eof, latching means I of or" said cleens, each ed independent blocking posig said elements as g releasing joint actuation of all of limit d movemen s to permit moverr nt of said eiements out of blocking positions, w -ereby all of said elements must conjointly moved through limited movements before any one is released. rnoveset out of said blocking position. 2. A device for positioning an obj men-ts out of eir blocisng pc elements being capable of movement while reinairii and chi g means actuable by so with respect to a feedway into which it is to be fed, comprising a plurality of positioning elements for mounting adjacent a. feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object, said elements being movable out of such blocking motions to permit passage of said object, interlocking means securing against substantial independent movement of said elements from said blocking positions, and means operable by pressure of said object conjointly against s eiements for disengaging said interlocking means permit movement or" said elements out i blocking positions.

3. A device for positioning an object with respect to a feed-way into which it is to be fed, comprising a plurality of spaced, pivoted positioning elements for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object and defining the desired initial attitude of said object with respect to said feedway, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements and restricting independent movement thereof, latching means operatively connected with each of said elements and adapted to restrain movement of all of said elements out of their blocking positions, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, and means interconnecting said elements and said latching means including releasing means actuable by conjoint actuation of all of said elements through their limited movements to permit movement of said elements out of said blocking positions, whereby all of said elements must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

4. A device for positioning an object with respect to a feedway into which it is to be fed, comprising a rotatable shaft, a plurality of positioningv elements carried by said shaft for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, latching means normally securing against rotation of said shaft and against movement of said elements out of said blocking positions, and means interconnecting said elements and said latching means including releasing means actuable by conjoint actuation of all of said elementsthrough their limited movements to unlock said shaft, whereby lall of said elements must be conj'ointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

5. A device for positioning an object with respect to a fe'edway into which it is to be fed, comprising a rotatable shaft, a plurality of positioning elements carried by said shaft for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, abutting means carried by said shaft, a sec-- ond abutting means engaging said first abutting means and normally restraining rotation of said shaft, and means interconnecting said elements and one of said abutting means including releasing means actuable by con-joint actuation of all of said elements through their limited movements to release said shaft, whereby all of said elements must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

6. A device for positioning an object with respect to a feedway into which it is to be fed, comprising a rotatable shaft, a plurality of positioning elements carriedby said shaft for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of" said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position', alatch carried by said shaft, a latch keeper normally engaging said latch and securing against rotation of said shaft, and means interconnecting said elements and said latch keeper including releasing means actuable by conjoint actuation of all of said elements through their limited movements to release said shaft, whereby all of said elements must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

7. A device for positioning an object with respect to a feedway into which it is to be fed, comprising a rotatable shaft, a plurality of positioning element-s carried by said shaft for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, a latch carried by said shaft, a latch keeper biased into latching engagement with said latch and securing against rotation of said shaft, and means interconnecting said elements and said keeper includingreleasing means actuable by conjoint actuation of all of said elements through their limited movements to release said shaft,

whereby all of said elements must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

8. A device for positioning an object with respect to a feedway into which it is to be fed, comprising a rotatable shaft, a plurality of positioning elements carried by said shaft for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of said elements,

each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, a plurality of latches carried by said shaft and corresponding in number to the number of said positioning elements, a corresponding number of latch keepers, each of said keepers normally engaging one of said latches, the engagement of any one of said latches with one of said keepers being operative to secure against rotation of said shaft, and means interconnecting each of said positioning elements with one of aid keepers including releasing means actuable by conjoint actuation of all of said elements through their limited movements to release said shaft, whereby all of said elements must be coniointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

9. A device for positioning an object with respect to a feedway into which it is to be fed, comprising a, rotatable shaft, a plurality of positioning elements carried by said shaft for mounting adjacent a feedway and projectable thereinto in blocking positions with respect to said object, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independ'- ent movement while remaining in the blocking position, a plurality of latches carried by said shaft and correspondin in number to the numiber of said positioning elements, a corresponding number of latch keepers, each of said keepers normally engaging one of said latches, the engagement of any one of said latches with one of said keepers being operative to secure against rotation of said shaft, and cam means operatively interconnecting each of said positioning elements with one of said latch keepers and operative to release said shaft upon conjoint actuation of all of said positioning elements through said limited movements, whereby all of said element must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

10. A device for positioning a round of ammunition with respect to the feedway of a gun into which it is to be fed, comprising a housing adapted for mounting on the gun adjacent a feedway, a shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, a plurality of ammunition positioning elements carried by said shaft and projectable into the entrance to said feedway in blocking position with respect to said ammunition, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independ ent movement of said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, a latch carried by said shaft, a latch keeper carried by said housing and coacting with said latch to restrain rotation of said shaft and movement of said positioning elements out of said blocking positions, and means interconnecting said positioning elements and said latch keeper including releasing means actuable by conjoint actuation of all of said elements through their limited movements to unlatch said shaft, whereby all of said positioning elements must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

11. A device for positioning a round of ammunition with respect to the feedway of a gun into which it is to be fed, comprising a housing adapted for mounting on the gun adjacent a feedway, a shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, a plurality of ammunition positioning elements carried by said shaft and projectable into the entrance to said feedway in blocking position with respect to said ammunition, interlocking means operatively interconnecting said elements with said shaft and restricting independent movement of said elements, each of said elements being capable of limited independent movement while remaining in the blocking position, a plurality of latches carried by said shaft and corresponding in number to the number of said positioning members, a plurality of latch keepers carried by said supporting member and corresponding in number to the number of latches, each of said keepers being associated with one of said latches to restrain rotation of said shaft, and means carried by each of said positioning elements for disengaging the corresponding latch keeper upon movement of the positioning element through said limited movement, whereby all of said elements must be conjointly moved through said limited movements before any one is released for movement out of said blocking position.

12. A device for positioning a round of ammunition with respect to the feedway of a gun into which it is to be fed, comprising a housing adapted for mounting on the gun adjacent a feedway, a shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, a pair of ammunition positioning arms carried by said shaft and normally projecting into the entrance to said feedway in blocking positions with respect to ammunition to be fed into said feedway, a pair of collars keyed to the shaft, each of said collars having an integral latch arm and each of said collars having a cut away portion, a flange portion on each positioning arm engaging the cutaway portion of one of the collars to limit movement of the arm relative to the corresponding collar, each of said arms being capable of limited movement independent of the corresponding coliar, a pair of latch keepers pivotally mounted on said housing and biased into engagement with said latch arms, the engagement of either keeper with the corresponding latch arm being operative to secure against rotation of said shaft and against the movement of said positioning arms out of their blocking positions, and latch keeper operating arms integral with each positioning arm for moving the corresponding latch keeper to an inoperative position upon movement of a positioning arm through its limited movement relative to the corresponding collar, whereby both of said positioning arms must be conjointly moved through said limited independent movements before either is released for movement out of said blocking position.

13. A device for positioning a round of ammunition with respect to the feedway of a gun into which it is to be fed, comprising a housing adapted for mounting on the gun adjacent a feedway, a shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, a pair of ammunition positioning arms carried by said shaft and normally projecting into the entrance to said feedway in blocking positions with respect said ammunition, a pair of collars keyed to the shaft, each of said collars having an integral latch arm, each of said collars having a cutaway portion, a flange portion on each positioning a-rm engaging the cutaway portion of one of the collars to limit movement of the arm relative to the corresponding collar, each of said arms being capable of limited movement independent of the corresponding collar, biasing means attached to said shaft and to said housing and urging said shaft to a position wherein said positioning arms are in said blocking positions, a pair of latch keepers pivotally mounted on said housing and biased into engagement with said latch arms, the engagement of either keeper with the corresponding latch arm being operative to secure against rotation of said shaft and against the movement of said positioning arms out of their blocking positions, and latch keeper operating arms integral with each positioning arm for moving the corresponding latch keeper to an inoperative position upon movement of a positioning arm through its limited movement relative to the corresponding collar, whereby both of said positioning arms must be conjointly moved through said limited independent movements before either is released for movement out of said blocking position.

VIRGIL C. BOWSER. 

